


The Story of Us

by Mythicalseries



Category: Rhett & Link
Genre: Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Multi, Old RandL, Rating Might Change, Young RandL in flashbacks, alzheimer's, rhink
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-29
Updated: 2017-05-20
Packaged: 2018-10-25 06:37:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,368
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10758765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mythicalseries/pseuds/Mythicalseries
Summary: Rhett and Link's lives have had countless chapters, most of which they've enjoyed together. Rhett never thought that he'd live to see the day, however, when Link started to forget their story.





	1. How It Started

**Author's Note:**

> I should mention that I owe a little piece of every chapter that's to come to the wonderful [shewasjustagirl](http://archiveofourown.org/users/shewasjustagirl). Thank you for the constant support and encouragement. I really couldn't have asked for a better friend and beta reader. You're the best.
> 
> I should also point out that Alzheimer's disease can have different effects on different people, so just know that this fic will in no way attempt to depict every individual case that can be found in real life. My knowledge on it is solely based on research, not on any medical knowledge of my own.

His relationship with God had not been on the best terms since Jessie passed away. She was 73 when she died. Rhett used to think they would have at least another decade together since they had both seemed to be in perfect health for their age. But on a chilly September night, one he and Jessie had spent watching TV, he found out how easily God could change his life plans. He remembered it perfectly.

The air outside had started to get colder as the hours went by, so he'd gotten up from the couch to find a sweater, leaving his wife alone in the living room. After a few minutes of going through their closet, he had started to get frustrated when he couldn't find the sweater he would usually wear to lounge around the house. He had blamed it on Jessie and her apparent need to never leave things where Rhett had left them. He'd eventually given up and decided to ask her where she put it. He had called for her once, but when no answer had come, he had tried again. Instead of his wife's voice, however, the only sound he had heard was the remote hitting the floor.

It was quick; she died on the way to the hospital. It eased his mind to know that at least she hadn't suffered much. Still, while they waited for the ambulance, Rhett had told her that everything was going to be alright, and he would never forgive God for turning that statement into a lie. Rhett would never forgive Him for taking her away from him so suddenly and for not letting her see her children one last time.

Now, three years later, without Jessie by his side and with his kids all grown up, Rhett was left to live alone. He had refused to keep living in the same house after Jessie died, partly because a big house required more maintenance than he was willing to do by himself, and partly because the empty house would always remind him of what he had lost. Therefore, he had asked Locke and Shep to help him move into a smaller, but still cosy, house not very far from where they used to live. It had nothing too extravagant, but it was more than enough for Rhett. When the kids were helping to search for it, he had given only one requirement: it had to be close to Link's house.

The boys and his grandchildren visited him as often as they could, but between work and their own families, it was understandable that they were sometimes just too busy to visit their old man. Rhett didn't really mind and he never blamed them either, even if he sometimes teased them about it.

As a matter of fact, just because he lived alone did not mean he was lonely. He still had Link, and if someone had asked, Rhett would have shamelessly admitted that his friend was now his whole world. They had spent 70 years walking their lives together; they had done it all side by side, and growing old was no different. Link was a constant in his life, and Rhett could barely remember a time without him. Even if Rhett hadn't felt much gratitude towards the man upstairs lately, having found Link so early in his life was something he'd always be grateful for.

Every day Rhett would get up and take a shower. He would eat breakfast while he watched the news, definitely at a much higher volume than he used to. Although his ears had certainly suffered the passing of time, his stomach apparently hadn't; he could still eat as much as at least two people, so breakfast would still take longer than one would expect.

Every day or two, he and Link would agree to hang out in the afternoon, so he’d usually get a text from his best friend at around one. Even though the font was already bigger than normal, he would still have to read it with glasses.

When he had bought his first pair over twenty years ago, he had teased Link, saying that there wasn't just one glassed half of Rhett and Link anymore. Link had smiled, retorting that he still remained the better looking one. And even though he hadn't said it, Rhett agreed, even after all those years. Now that Link's black hair had turned mostly grey and new lines marked his face, in Rhett's eyes, Link was still the most handsome man he had ever met.

Once he had texted Link back, he would walk the two blocks that separated his house from Link's, always to be greeted with a hug from his friend at the door. They would then walk in and Rhett would also hug Christy, who was still as beautiful and radiant as ever.

She had also had a hard time after losing Jessie, which made sense -- Jessie was one of her best friends as well. Their loss had only brought them closer though, so when Christy was around, she would always join Rhett and Link while they sat under the shadow of a tree in the Neal’s backyard.

Most days however, it would just be the two of them. Christy would spend her afternoons at Lincoln’s or Lando’s house, sometimes even babysitting their new great granddaughter, Lila.

It had become a bit of an unofficial McLaughlin-Neal family tradition to give their kids names that started with the letter L, with Shepherd being the only exception. In fact, he had insisted for years that he would give his kids names with the letter S as a form of protest, but he ended up marrying a girl called Layla, so he had no way of escaping it.

That was the way things had worked for years, until Link started to forget.

  
It had started with small stuff. The first time Rhett noticed something strange was a Wednesday in late April when the usual text from Link failed to come. They would usually meet a little after one, maybe at two if the Neals had had a late lunch, but that day, Rhett waited until 4:30 and heard nothing.  
He had called earlier, but Link hadn't answered. Rhett had wondered for a minute whether he was confused and that maybe it was Tuesday or Thursday. But it wasn't. It was very unlike Link’s organized mind to forget one of their meet ups, so he figured he’d better go and see if everything was alright.

“Rhett?” Link asked when he opened the door. There was a confused look on his now older face.

“Hey, ‘s everything alright?” Rhett said, letting himself in.

“Yeah, why?”

“It’s Wednesday.” Rhett said it like it was obvious that Link would understand what he’d meant, but that didn't happen.

“So?” Link asked, still not following.

“We said we’d hang out today? I called you earlier but you didn't answer. I thought maybe something was wrong.”

At first Rhett had just thought the whole situation was weird, but it was the face Link made in that moment that got Rhett actually worried. Anyone could forget things, especially as they got older, but it struck Rhett that Link wasn't just remembering. Instead, he looked like he was processing the information as if it were the first time he’d heard it.

“Oh… sorry”, he said in the end.

“No problem, brother", Rhett said, trying to shrug it off. "It could happen to anyone. You’re getting old.”

“Yeah…” Link laughed awkwardly. Rhett was sure his friend had noticed something strange as well, but he decided not to bring it up. “Wanna go sit outside? It's nice today.”

“Sure, it’s what we always do anyway.”

“Right…” Link said, gesturing towards the back door. He shook his head, wiping the confused look on his face, and since it went away so quickly, Rhett figured he would let it pass. For the moment. “And we’re both already old, my friend. Sorry to burst your bubble.”

It wasn't until a month later that he felt the need to talk to Christy about it. She had been noticing things too for a while, but now it was happening more and more often. It had gotten to the point where it had started to frustrate Link himself. Christy’s own patience was wearing thin too, since her husband didn’t want to acknowledge what was going on. In fact, when she suggested consulting a doctor, Link got furious, saying that she was implying that he was going crazy.

The day eventually came, however, when Rhett got a phone call that would change everything and then Link couldn’t look away anymore. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was meant to be just a set up for this story, so sorry it's a bit short. More to come soon :)
> 
> Please fill my heart with your comments either here or over at [Mythicalseries](http://Mythicalseries.tumblr.com) on Tumblr.
> 
> Thank you for reading!


	2. History Repeats Itself

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special thanks to [Sims](http://archiveofourown.org/users/afangirlsplaylist) for letting me know of the existence of Sue's boyfriend, and to [Jenna](http://archiveofourown.org/users/shewasjustagirl) for beta reading this as always <3

It had been a calm Thursday afternoon like any other. Unsuspecting of the fact that the events of that day were going to change his life, Rhett had gone about his day as usual.

He woke up at a decent hour and decided to go for a walk after breakfast. His back issues had only gotten worse with age, so the doctors had recommended he stayed as active as possible to prevent further atrophy in the area. Once he got home, he was unsurprisingly hungry again, so he made himself lunch.

After lounging around for a while, he decided to do some cleaning up. He put on some music while he washed the pile of dishes that had been building in the sink for the last two days. When he was almost done, he heard the distinct ringtone he had set up for his son cut through the melody of an old Merle Haggard song. He paused the song and, as he picked up the phone, squinted his eyes to get the confirmation of seeing Locke’s name pop up on the screen.

“Hey son!” he answered cheerfully. He hadn’t seen Locke in over a week, so he was happy to hear from him.

“Dad?” Locke said from the other end as if he couldn’t hear properly. “Please don’t tell him. Please, Locke...” he heard another voice say in the background.

Rhett frowned worriedly, instantly recognizing the second voice. “Locke? ‘S everything okay?”

“No, dad, not really. I'm with Link right now and... Sorry Link, it’s either him or Christy”, he said to Link away from the speaker before continuing, “I’m taking him to your place. I’ll explain everything when we get there. See you in five?”

“Okay.” That was all he managed before Locke hung up, and the next five minutes were without a doubt some of the longest of his life.

He stepped outside slowly when he saw Locke's car pull up on his driveway. His son got out of the car immediately, walking over to him to give him a hug, but Rhett couldn’t take his eyes off of Link who was still sitting in the passenger seat. He was hunched forward sheepishly, focusing on his hands on his lap.

“Hey, dad”, Locke said, smiling sadly.

“What happened?”

Locke sighed. “I was going to the store to pick up some milk before heading home, and that’s when I found him...”

“What?” he asked, not following.

“He was standing a block away from the store, completely disoriented, dad. There was a young woman trying to help him when I stepped in. She hesitated to leave at first so I had to tell her he was my uncle. I guess she ended up believing me because his face lit up as soon as he saw me.”

Rhett only gaped at him, feeling like he had just been punched in the stomach, so Locke went on.

“It took him a good minute or two to come back, but he understands what happened. He asked me not to take him home ‘cause he doesn’t want Christy to know yet. I thought I’d bring him here instead, but he didn’t like that very much either.”

Rhett only sighed in response, moving instinctively towards the side of the car where Link was still sitting. He stared at his friend through the window for a second before slowly opening the door.

“Hey, buddyroll”, he said softly as he lowered himself a bit. “What happened?”

Well aware that his eyes were starting to fill up with tears, Link took off his glasses and looked away, seemingly determined to avoid Rhett's gaze. “Don’t act like Locke didn’t tell you already”, he said with a tinge of anger in his voice.

“I still wanna hear it from you.” He gently grabbed Link's arm and waited for Link to turn around to look at him. When he did, his eyes were glassy and there were wet tracks on his cheeks. He put his glasses back on as if he could hide behind them, causing Rhett to give him a sad, sympathetic smile. “Please.”

Link stared at him for a second, searching Rhett’s eyes for any trace of pity, which he didn't seem to find. He knew his pride wouldn't be able to handle people being sorry for him – especially Rhett. He was relieved, then, when he was only met with concerned, pleading eyes from the man who knew him best in the world.

So he gave in. He nodded in response, taking Rhett's hand as he slowly got out of the car. Rhett kneaded his arm with Link’s as a way of comfort, not only for his friend but for himself as well. They headed inside arm in arm as Locke followed closely behind.

“You go sit down. I’ll be right back”, Rhett told Link, pointing at his couch in the living room. Link didn't reply, but he did as he was told.

Once he had sat down, Rhett turned back to talk to his son who was still standing by the door. He patted Locke on the shoulder as he approached him, making a conscious effort to keep his voice low enough to keep Link from listening.

“Thanks, Locke. You did the right thing by bringing him here.”

“Do you think he's gonna be alright?”

Rhett turned his head for a second to look back at the fragile version of his friend sitting on his couch. The image made his heart feel heavier. “I don't know”, he lied. “Did you talk to Lincoln?”

“About this? No. I think Link would have thrown my phone out the window if I'd tried”, he chuckled sadly.

Rhett smiled fondly. “I don't doubt it.”

“I can call him if you want, though…”

“No, no. Please don't”, he rushed to say. “I think he and Christy would like to handle that themselves.”

Locke nodded thoughtfully. As worried as his father was, Locke was clearly upset too. When he had told the woman back at the store that Link was his uncle, it hadn't felt like a lie on his lips. Even though he and Shep had never really picked up the term “Uncle Link”, it didn't mean that they didn't see him as one. His father’s best friend had been there for them their entire lives, sometimes even treating them as he would his own children. In fact, they were closer to Link than they were to their actual uncle, Cole.

“Do you need me to do anything?” he offered.

Rhett smiled but shook his head. “Nah, you go home.”

“Are you sure? ‘Cause I can wait and--”

“Yes, I’m sure. I’ll talk to you later, I promise.” He squeezed his son’s shoulder reassuringly. Although Locke wasn't exactly happy about leaving them on their own, he eventually nodded resignedly.

“Call me if you need anything.”

“Sure.” He smiled proudly as Locke walked out the door. He and Jessie had raised a good man, he thought. “Thanks again, son.”

  
Rhett closed the door once Locke got into the car. He heard the sound of his son’s car driving away as he walked back slowly towards Link.

Troubled blue eyes were fixated on the opposite wall, but Link’s mind seemed to be miles away. He had sat almost on the edge of the couch, making himself as small as he could possibly look. For decades, Rhett had enjoyed the exhilaration Link would bring to his life, his personality always filled with color. Even as his hair turned grayer throughout the years, Link’s quirks and spirit had remained as vibrant as ever. Now, however, the sight of his best friend before him was far from the technicolor version he used to know.

Link was undoubtedly scared. And he had reason to be.

  
Sue had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's at age 72. Everyone told him she was blessed to get eight more years with them after getting the official news.  
Link was unsure, however, even years after her death, whether that had been a blessing or a curse.

The first couple of years were not that bad. Her symptoms were still quite mild and nothing that couldn't be dealt with. With Link living across the country, it took him a couple of months to notice that his mom was having difficulty forming sentences or finding the right words. At first he had attributed it to her being distracted. In fact, she only set off the alarm in Link’s brain when she told him, offhandedly, that she had forgotten the way to an old friend's house.

Although they both knew Alzheimer's disease ran in the family, Sue must have lived in denial for a while before Link really noticed something was wrong.

He flew home from California to accompany his mom to the best neurologist he was able to find in North Carolina. At first he had offered to take her to Chicago to see one of the best doctors in the field, but she had refused. Convincing her to get a check up was hard enough already, so talking her into flying across the country was downright impossible. They settled for for Raleigh instead, which was as far as Sue was willing to go.

As her mind continued to slip further away, the intervals between Link’s flights to North Carolina grew shorter as well. As her energy decreased, her ability to do basic, everyday tasks started to falter. It soon became obvious that she could no longer do chores around the house by herself or even get dressed without assistance, and Link was faced with no choice but to hire a full time carer.

To make things worse, his mom’s husband, who was several years older than Sue, had died in the midst of it all. Although her moments of lucidity were few and scattered, she was at least aware that he was gone. Whenever she asked about him, it would break Link’s heart to try to explain what had really happened, so he lied. Each time she asked, Link came up with a different story. “He just went to the store, he’ll be right back”. “He’s helping Sarah out with something. You know, Sarah, from next door.” “He’s at John’s. You remember John, right?” And each time, she waved off his excuses, only to ask and receive a new one later.

The last two years of Sue’s life were without a doubt the most difficult and exhausting of Link’s. Even though it killed him not to see her every day, his family thankfully eased his burden. Whenever he had an appointment he couldn't work around, Christy or Lily would go in his place.

Given that Link was the most squeamish person in the world, nobody ever thought that any of his offspring would eventually become a doctor. But Lily had always been a brave girl. Way braver than Link, that's for sure. Consequently, she never once hesitated to step up when it came to taking care of her grandma.

Once it became evident that Sue wouldn't get much longer, Christy stayed with her in North Carolina almost permanently. Lily and the boys also worked around their busy lives in California to go see their grandmother a couple of times, never quite knowing if it would be the last.

Link eventually talked to Rhett about putting their projects on hold for a while so that he too could head back home. He couldn't handle being away from his mother in a time like that, and he didn't feel it was fair to his wife either. Rhett never held that over his head. His friend had been nothing but the most supportive business partner one could ever ask for; he encouraged Link to drop everything and go.

“Would you…” Link sighed, struggling to finish the sentence. He wasn't sure if he’d be asking too much of Rhett, but even as selfish as he felt, he couldn't help but need the other pillar of his life standing beside him during these dark times. “Would you come with me?”

Rhett could only smile at him, his eyes bursting with affection. “I already bought the tickets.”

And off they went. For over a month, Link hardly moved from his mom’s side. While he took care of her, Rhett and Christy took care of him. They kept him company and made sure he didn't skip meals. He needed the energy.

The day Sue died, the sky was as gray as Link’s life felt. Once the tears were all dried up, he was only left wondering about what he had ahead of him. As Christy and the kids helped pack some things up, Rhett found him standing alone in his mom’s backyard, staring into nothingness.

“Want to talk?”

“Not really”, Link shrugged.

He didn't know what he expected. He didn't know if he expected Rhett to leave him alone or to pull him back inside, but he didn't expect him to just stand behind him silently. His friend remained quiet for as long as Link did, with Rhett’s mere presence giving his soul more comfort than the words and hugs from anyone else had.

“Don't let that happen to me, Rhett.”

“You know I can't--”

“I know, just...” Link sighed. He knew he was at risk of going through the same thing as his mom had, but praying to God somehow didn't seem enough. So as a tear slid down his right cheek, he prayed to Rhett as well. “Just don't let me forget.”

Rhett approached him slowly, only to slide his hand into Link’s. “You got it, buddy”, he whispered.

 

Now Rhett felt like he had broken a promise.

There was nothing he or anyone else could have done to prevent Link from getting this devastating condition. Still, Rhett would curse himself for the rest of his life for not noticing something sooner.

Much like he had done that day in Sue’s backyard, he sat beside his friend on the couch and waited quietly until Link was ready to talk.

“I’m scared, Rhett.”

“We don't even know what this is yet, Link. We can--”

“You and I both know what’s happening to me”, he said with a tinge of anger in his voice. “I don't need no doctor to tell me that.”

Rhett’s mind wandered into the times that lay ahead of them if their suspicions were to be confirmed. As he stared intently at the side of Link’s old face, he felt his heart quiver inside his torso at the prospect of having to watch his best friend go through everything Sue had.

At their age, the idea of one them dying had already come up in conversation several times. As much as Link had joked about wanting to see Rhett go first, they both knew he didn't mean it. Rhett, on the other hand, hadn't even been able to joke about that; he had always known he wanted to die before Link. And so they ended up agreeing to make sure they would die on the same day somehow.

Neither of them had thought to foresee this scenario, though. As much as the idea of losing Link hurt him, the prospect of seeing every shade of Link slip away from him was by far what hurt the most.

“You should still get an opinion.”

“I know, I know.” Link sighed resignedly.

“How long have you known?”

“A while.” His answer was short and dry. Rhett knew him enough not to try to pressure more information out of him if he wasn't ready to share it on his own. He tried to shake away the thought that soon enough Link wouldn't be able to share much anyway.

“You know you're gonna have to talk to Christy, right?”

“Yeah.” His voice was cracking up, as he held back tears. He took a shaky breath before saying what was really on his mind. “I can't put them through this, Rhett. I can't put _you_ through this.”

Holding back tears of his own, Rhett leaned forward to put his arm around Link. “You are worried about _me_?” He laughed endearingly, trying not to choke up. “How very Link Neal of you.”

This made Link laugh genuinely, despite the tears now dripping down his face.

Rhett wasn't going to make the same mistake he had made with Jessie. He wasn't going to tell Link that everything was going to be alright – especially when he knew it probably wasn't going to be. But he sure as hell wasn’t about to let Link give up without putting up the fight of his life.

“Whatever happens, I’m right here, okay? I promise.”  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know how you're liking it so far :)


	3. The First Chapter of Our Story

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to [Jenna](http://archiveoufourown.org/users/shewasjustagirl) for your support as always. Love you to bits <3

_When you meet someone who's gonna change your life, a line is automatically drawn in your timeline. All of a sudden, your life gets divided into two parts – before that person and after them – and my life, like everyone else's, has been divided a few times._

_The first line was drawn the day I met my wife, Jessie, at a friend's party back in the day. The moment she smiled at me from across the room changed my life forever. There's my life before that smile and my life after it._

_The second line, of course, was drawn the day my son Locke was born. Even though I had nine whole months leading up to that day and I thought I was ready, nothing could have ever prepared me for the moment I first held him in my arms. It felt as if the center of gravity of my world had suddenly shifted and it now circled around that impossibly tiny thing I was holding. I was overwhelmed with love and with fear, and it was the best feeling of my life._

_Shepherd drew the third line. The day he was born was the day I grew a second heart. Or at least it felt like I did, because the amount of love I had for my two little boys couldn't have possibly fit into one._

_The thing that makes Link different is that in his case, there is no line. There is no before Link and after Link because, if I'm honest, I hardly remember a time when my best friend wasn't there. Even though I do have one or two memories from the very early years of my life, my consciousness was ignited that first day of first grade back in 1984. That was the day my story – and OUR story – really began._

 

_My family and I moved to North Carolina during the summer of that year, about a month before school started. My brother, Cole, who was eight years old at the time, spent most of his time playing with our next door neighbor, Jeremy Fisher, who was around my brother’s age. They would sometimes let me join them, but I was a lot younger than them, and I spent most of that month running around by myself or just laying on the carpeted floor of the living room only to stare at the ceiling._

_When September came along, I was probably both afraid and excited to finally meet kids my age, make some friends. But I vividly remember the moment Ms. Locklear, our first grade teacher, called me to the front of the class to introduce me. Being our first day, everyone had to introduce themselves to the rest of the class, even though it was a small town and most kids in our class already knew each other._

_Not me, though. I was the new kid in town. I remember standing there with her hand on my right shoulder as she explained that my family had just moved to Buies Creek and that everyone should give me a warm welcome. You know, the usual stuff. As I looked around the room, all the kids had their attention on Ms. Locklear – all but one._

_I noticed this one kid in the front row who was looking at me intently with his big blue eyes, and it seemed to surprise him when my eyes found his. Yet he didn't look away. Instead, he smiled at me, warmly and kindly, and I couldn't help but smile back. Unlike Jessie's smile, Link’s didn't change my life; it started it._

_As I returned to my desk at the back of the classroom, I could feel his eyes following me. When I turned around to sit down, I saw him snap his head back toward the front of the class embarrassedly. It made me chuckle – the first of many Link would pull out of me throughout the years._

_An hour or two later, our teacher suddenly stopped talking. She walked over to Link's desk; he hadn't seemed to notice the interruption of the class. He had to be really absorbed in what he was writing for him not to notice Ms. Locklear staring down at him. Looking back, it doesn't surprise me. Whenever Link’s mind was somewhere else, it was hard to bring him back to Earth. It was a skill only his mom, his wife, Christy, and I were ever able to develop._

_Ms. Locklear then cleared her throat, making all the kids in the class giggle. They knew Link was in trouble. It was probably the high-pitched laugh from a girl sitting next to Link that snapped him back to reality, making him look up at our teacher._

_“Writing on school property, Mr. Neal? You could have at least chosen a nicer word.”_

_Link could only gape at her. I normally would have found the situation hilarious, but the kid who sat behind him peeked over his shoulder to see what Link had written. That kid then turned to whisper the word to his friend behind him, and soon enough, it spread throughout the rest of the class, reaching my ears._

_“That's enough everyone!” Ms. Locklear said, trying to reinstall some order. “I'm afraid you’ll be staying inside today during recess, Link.”_

_“But…”_

_“I'm sorry. You should have thought about it before writing profanity on your desk.”_

_I remember Link lowering his head as the other kids snickered among them. But not me. The funny thing is that I still can't explain it; it doesn't make sense. I didn't even know that kid, I didn't even know what his name was, what he liked and what he didn't, or even the reasoning behind that funny haircut. What I did know, though, is that I had to find out all those things._

_I don't remember conjuring up a plan or anything; I just know that I grabbed my pencil the moment I saw Ms. Locklear walking towards me as she handed out activities to everyone. As if something had come over me, without really knowing why, I rushed to write the word “HELL” on my desk, as big and as clear as I possibly could. She stopped beside me just as I was finishing the second L, and she gasped in surprise._

_“Mr. McLaughlin! What a way to start your reputation in this town, young man.” All eyes had turned to me. I didn't dare to look anywhere but the floor, but just like it had happened with Link, I could hear everyone whispering around me. “I guess you'll be joining Mr. Neal for recess then.”_

_I just nodded, no complaints, no attempted explanations. I think it puzzled Link as much as it did Ms. Locklear, because he looked back at me several times during what was left of the class. I never got to know what was going through his head at that moment, though. We never really discussed it._

_The next thing I knew, Link and I were the only two kids left in the classroom. Despite having all those empty seats, Link didn’t hesitate to move toward the back to sit next to me, and I honestly didn’t mind. So, just like that, we sat together in silence while we colored pictures of mythical beasts, completely oblivious to the importance that moment would have in our lives._

_I wasn’t particularly fond of coloring, so I soon got bored. I had colored the picture of Paul Bunyan in front me quite messily, not caring much about staying inside the lines or putting the right colors in the right places. Link, on the other hand, was the opposite. He was always careful and attentive to detail, and he faced everything in his life that way – or at least he did when you didn't rile him up._

_Even so, watching him color was somehow more entertaining than watching everyone play outside through the window, and definitely more fun than coloring myself. I must have done just that for about five minutes before Link even noticed._  
_“What?” he said, defensively shielding his perfectly colored unicorn with his hand. He was trying to sound confident as he confronted me, but the shyness in his voice gave him away. It always did._

_“Oh, nothing. You just… you’re really good at that.”_

_To this day I remember the surprised look on his face, as if I had caught him off guard. It makes me laugh every time I think about it; he carried that same childish expression into adulthood, and it never failed to put a smile on my face. Even back then, it must have caused that reaction in me, because a smile appeared on Link's face, probably mimicking my own._

_“Thanks”, he said. He then immediately leaned over to get a good look at the messy picture on my desk, causing him to chuckle. “You're not so much.”_

_That was the exact moment I knew I was really gonna like that goofy boy._

_He seemed to relax when I laughed, and he started laughing along. “No, I'm really not”, I said as our giggling died down. “I’m Rhett.”_

_“I know. I'm Link.” He looked back and forth hesitantly between me and the piece of paper on my desk before he decided to scoot his desk up closer to mine. “Why did you color the grass blue?”_

_“I… I don't know. I guess I just wasn't paying attention.”_

_“That's alright. You could pretend that's the sea.”_

_“But he can't be standing on water.”_

_“Mmm, I guess you're right.”_

_How he managed to turn something so unappealing into something so riveting in mere seconds is beyond me. We both sat silently, staring at the page, as we considered the changes that could possibly fix my small piece of artwork, until an idea hit me. I reached over to grab the light blue crayon from the box Ms. Locklear had given us, and I started coloring all around the silhouette of the mythical giant._

_“He could be under water!” I explained to Link._

_His face lit up like it always did when an idea struck him. “Maybe he can breathe under water! You know, like mermaids!”_

_“He can be the giant king of the sea!” I exclaimed cheerfully. Link seemed to like the idea because he instantly reached for the rest of the crayons and started drawing little fish in the parts I had already painted blue._

 

_We didn't see it back then, but that was probably the beginning of our creative thinking as a duo. Even though we admittedly polished the process over the years, it was always something that came naturally to us; our minds just clicked together, understanding each other as if we were one brain. It was something that we never experienced with anyone else, a connection with such an intensity that we could never explain it to the rest of the world._

_Every time I reminisce on that first chapter of our story, I still don't know what pushed me to get myself in trouble that day, just like I don't know why Link smiled at me or why I smiled back. Whether it was fate, or God, or a mere instinct within us, I will never know, but I'm grateful it happened that way._

_My only regret is not having ever discussed this with Link. Over the years, we got asked so many times about how we met that, quite early on, we settled on a little discourse that we could recite by heart, but we never really stopped to analyze it much._

_I don't think Link ever knew that I did it on purpose, that I got myself held in from recess just to get to know him, even though I actually told him twice._

_The first time was in our sophomore year of college and, probably not for nothing, I happened to choose a moment when Link was barely conscious. We had been to a party earlier that night in the door room next to ours, and Link had drunk a little more than I had – and that boy could never hold his liquor anyway. As soon as we got back to our room, he fell asleep on my bunk as I sat on the floor next to him, having a conversation with myself more than with Link. And I told him then. I probably wouldn't have if I had been sober, but with Link asleep and a few bottles of beer in my system, it spilled out._

_If he heard any part of what I said that night, he never mentioned it. But whether he did or not, I wish I hadn't waited over sixty years to bring it up again. I just wish I had manned up enough to tell him again when his mind was still there to hear it._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was a little different from the other two. There will be other chapters like this peppered throughout the story but hopefully it'll all make sense later :)
> 
> Update: This story is on hiatus. I promise more will come your way eventually, though. I love this story and I'm determined to finish it, but life and other projects have been getting in the way. Sorry about that, I'll try to make it worth the wait!


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